Amadou Onana finally reaches full potential after remarkable new reveal vs Bournemouth
Amadou Onana excelled in midfield once again as Aston Villa drew 1-1 with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.
Morgan Rogers opened the scoring with a fine finish at the near post, but Villa’s defensive resilience was finally broken in the 55th minute.
Poor defending from Lucas Digne allowed Rayan to score his first goal for the Cherries, and the Villans had to hold on for a valuable point.
Villa’s draw to Bournemouth leaves them third in the table, but Unai Emery’s side now sit nine points adrift of league leaders Arsenal.
Onana was particularly impressive, and fans are finally seeing the best of him in a Villa shirt.
Amadou Onana delivers incredible midfield performance vs Bournemouth
Onana joined Aston Villa in July 2024 for a fee of £50million from Everton, and it seems as if he is finally performing to the standard that is expected of him.
Emery has placed a lot more faith in his imposing midfielder this campaign, after he only made 34 appearances in all competitions last season due to fitness issues.
According to FotMob, he won 100 per cent of his ground duels and 88 per cent of his aerial duels against Bournemouth.
| Stat | Onana |
| Minutes played | 90 |
| Pass accuracy | 86% |
| Clearances | 9 |
| Headed clearances | 8 |
| Touches | 67 |
He also recorded the most blocks (2) and the most clearances (9) of any player on the pitch.
At 195cm tall, it’s no shock that he is an extremely valuable weapon in there, and he has won 74.4 per cent of his aerial duels in the Premier League this season.
With Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn and Youri Tielemans all sidelined, Onana is finally showing why Villa broke their transfer record and spent £50m on him.
Onana has become one of Villa’s most important players after having a slow start to the campaign, and Emery would face a lot of problems if he were to get injured again.
- Read more: ‘Really bad’ Aston Villa star torn to shreds on Match of the Day as Bournemouth footage emerges
Aston Villa may struggle to keep ahold of Onana in the summer
Villa are in an ongoing financial battle with both PSR and UEFA, and they may need to sell some of their prized assets in the summer.
Onana would certainly fall into that category, and that’s perhaps the only negative for supporters who don’t want to see the 24-year-old leave.
The Belgium international revealed on 30 January that he would like to join a “world-class” club in the future.
Having scored two league goals this season, it’s clear that he is a threat in both boxes.
There are very few midfielders in the world who possess his physicality and threat in the final third, which means that he could attract interest from several clubs around Europe.
As a result, he could be spending his final few months in B6 before moving elsewhere.